Average Weather in Cottonwood Arizona, United States

In Cottonwood, the summers are hot and mostly clear and the winters are cold and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 37°F to 96°F and is rarely below 29°F or above 103°F.

Based on the tourism score, the best times of year to visit Cottonwood for warm-weather activities are from mid May to late June and from late August to early October.

Temperature

The hot season lasts for 3.5 months, from June 1 to September 15, with an average daily high temperature above 88°F. The hottest day of the year is July 3, with an average high of 96°F and low of 70°F.

The cool season lasts for 3.4 months, from November 22 to March 1, with an average daily high temperature below 65°F. The coldest day of the year is December 28, with an average low of 37°F and high of 57°F.

The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Clouds

In Cottonwood, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year in Cottonwood begins around August 22 and lasts for 2.5 months, ending around November 6. On September 27, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy85% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy15% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 6 and lasts for 9.5 months, ending around August 22. On February 19, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy40% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy60% of the time.

The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds.

Precipitation

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days in Cottonwood varies significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 2.1 months, from July 7 to September 11, with a greater than 20% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 38% on August 4.

The drier season lasts 9.9 months, from September 11 to July 7. The smallest chance of a wet day is 3% on June 9.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 38% on August 4.

The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day).

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Cottonwood experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 10 months, from June 25 to April 26, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 13, with an average total accumulation of 2.0 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 2.0 months, from April 26 to June 25. The least rain falls around June 7, with an average total accumulation of 0.2 inches.

The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average liquid-equivalent snowfall.

Sun

The length of the day in Cottonwood varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2019, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 49 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 29 minutes of daylight.

The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:14 AM on June 12, and the latest sunrise is 2 hours, 22 minutes later at 7:35 AM on January 7. The earliest sunset is at 5:16 PM on December 5, and the latest sunset is 2 hours, 29 minutes later at 7:45 PM on June 29.

The solar day over the course of the year 2019. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray.

Humidity

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The perceived humidity level in Cottonwood, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, staying within 1% of 1% throughout.

The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point.

Wind

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Cottonwood experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 8.8 months, from October 10 to July 4, with average wind speeds of more than 6.6 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is April 11, with an average hourly wind speed of 8.0 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 3.2 months, from July 4 to October 10. The calmest day of the year is August 12, with an average hourly wind speed of 5.3 miles per hour.

The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

The predominant average hourly wind direction in Cottonwood varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 5.0 months, from February 14 to July 14 and for 3.0 months, from July 20 to October 19, with a peak percentage of 47% on June 9. The wind is most often from the west for 6.0 days, from July 14 to July 20, with a peak percentage of 38% on July 15. The wind is most often from the east for 3.8 months, from October 19 to February 14, with a peak percentage of 39% on January 1.

Wind Direction

The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions, excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1.0 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

Best Time of Year to Visit

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Cottonwood throughout the year, we compute two travel scores.

The tourism score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 65°F and 80°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Cottonwood for general outdoor tourist activities are from mid May to late June and from late August to early October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with perceived temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cottonwood for hot-weather activities is from mid June to early September, with a peak score in the first week of July.

Methodology

For each hour between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM of each day in the analysis period (1980 to 2016), independent scores are computed for perceived temperature, cloud cover, and total precipitation. Those scores are combined into a single hourly composite score, which is then aggregated into days, averaged over all the years in the analysis period, and smoothed.

Our precipitation score, which is based on the three-hour precipitation centered on the hour in question, is 10 for no precipitation, falling linearly to 9 for trace precipitation, and to 0 for 0.04 inches of precipitation or more.

Our tourism temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 50°F, rising linearly to 9 for 65°F, to 10 for 75°F, falling linearly to 9 for 80°F, and to 1 for 90°F or hotter.

Our beach/pool temperature score is 0 for perceived temperatures below 65°F, rising linearly to 9 for 75°F, to 10 for 82°F, falling linearly to 9 for 90°F, and to 1 for 100°F or hotter.

Growing Season

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Cottonwood typically lasts for 9.1 months (278 days), from around February 24 to around November 29, rarely starting before January 19 or after March 28, and rarely ending before November 9 or after December 20.

The percentage of time spent in various temperature bands. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is within the growing season.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

Based on growing degree days alone, the first spring blooms in Cottonwood should appear around February 5, only rarely appearing before January 24 or after February 20.

Growing Degree Days

The average growing degree days accumulated over the course of the year, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

Solar Energy

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 2.6 months, from April 24 to July 11, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.6 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 13, with an average of 8.7 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.2 months, from November 4 to February 10, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 4.2 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 24, with an average of 3.1 kWh.

The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

Topography

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Cottonwood are 34.739 deg latitude, -112.010 deg longitude, and 3,455 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Cottonwood contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 371 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 3,388 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (4,698 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (10,778 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Cottonwood is covered by shrubs (83%), within 10 miles by shrubs (82%) and trees (12%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (59%) and trees (37%).

Data Sources

This report illustrates the typical weather in Cottonwood, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

There are 4 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Cottonwood.

The estimated value at Cottonwood is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Cottonwood and a given station.

Other Data

All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

Disclaimer

The information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site.

We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands.

We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader.